UNIVERSITY students are known for having to be quite frugal to juggle their studies with living costs.

Imagine the difference $5000, along with some paid summer work experience thrown into the mix, would make to them.

That is what is on offer through the council's annual Academic Bursary Program, with applications for this year's round now open.

Chair of council's Corporate Services Committee Cr Ayril Paton said the bursaries were a great opportunity for university students, providing them much-needed financial assistance and valuable work experience.

Bursary recipient Callum Merritt doing some video editing work during council work experience.Hayley Breed

He said the 2017 Academic Bursary opportunities had been expanded to cover a greater range of study areas, linked to an increased variety of employment opportunities in the Mackay region.

The program aims to encourage the academic progress of university students studying:

> Engineering;

> Information Technology/Digital Media;

> Business (Accounting, Marketing, HR, Public Relations or Social Innovation), Planning;

> Workplace Health and Safety/Emergency Management;

> Social Work; or

> Environmental Health/Science.

Applicants must be in their second-last year of study.

Five bursaries are available, with each having a total value of $5000. Each bursary is paid in bi-yearly instalments of $1250 over the final two years of study.

Bursary recipients may also be offered paid vacation work with the council.

Applications are open now and close on Friday, April 28, 2017.

Cr Paton said although preferred, students did not have to be studying in Mackay to be considered for a bursary.

However, they must ordinarily be residents of the Mackay region.

>> For more details on the 2017 Academic Bursary Program head HEREor phone 1300 622 529 (MACKAY)

Bus and RV dream now a reality

A $500,000 upgrade of Sarina's Field of Dreams parkland is now a reality, with finishing touches being put on the construction project.

Access to the popular tourist spot has been improved in the upgrade, which has included new car parking facilities, a sealed turnaround area for large vehicles and new pathways.

Cr Karen May, who is chair of the Sarina Field Dreams Advisory Committee, said the upgraded area looked excellent.

"I think it is going to prove to be very beneficial for the businesses and groups that are located there,'' Cr May said.

The upgrade would also make it much easier for larger vehicles, including buses, caravans and RVs, to visit, she said.

A tourist bus visits the Field of Dreams at Sarina.

"The new roundabout will allow people to turn around near the Sarina Sugar Shed before parking.

"There are dedicated parking bays for buses and RVs."

The council received funding of $250,000 from the Queensland Tourism Infrastructure Fund (QITF) to assist with the Field of Dreams project.

QTIF is an initiative under the Australian Government's Tourism Demand-Driver Infrastructure program, administered by the State Government through the Department of Tourism, Major Events, Small Business and the Commonwealth Games.

The council also delivered the project in partnership with Sarina Community Arts and Craft Cooperative Limited, which was successful in an application for a $250,000 community grant as part of the council's Better Community Building Fund.

WANTED: Examples of excellence in the conservation of heritage and history in the Mackay region.

Mackay Regional Council's Heritage Awards, a biennial event first celebrated in 2004, are on again in 2017.

Character and Heritage Advisory Committee chair Cr Fran Mann said the popular awards had been a successful event in the past and attracted high-quality and worthy applicants.

She said the council wished to see the 2017 Heritage Awards extend that tradition by paying tribute to schools, individuals and organisations who worked diligently to maintain the memory of our past, our people and our places.

15 Hinton Street, West Mackay, was winner of the 2015 Gold Award in the “Tom Casey” New or Refurbished Heritage Home category.

"The region has wide-ranging heritage values from built form to cultural tradition and is worth celebrating and promoting."